Dark Horse Penguin Picks: July 2025
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Dur-An-Ki
I had completely forgotten that this was coming before I saw it in the solicitations. Kentaro Miura didn’t do much in his career that wasn’t “Berserk” – he did the art for the Buronson-written “Japan” and “King of Wolves” and did the one-volume “Giganto Maxia.” He also wrote this short series where the art was provided by his crew at Studio Gaga. It’s about a child of the gods who descends to our world to find friends among humans and to help provide solutions for their problems. Soooooooo… he’s Fantasy Manga Jesus who also gets to ride a dragon according to the cover. Fine by me, I’m just glad we’re getting one last little series from Miura to hopefully remind us just how good his writing was.
Quick Stops III #1: This is the third volume of the anthology series set in Kevin Smith’s Askewniverse. I haven’t read the first two yet because I’m not interested in buying them in hardcover and I’ve already got enough to read without trying to find them on sale digitally. That said, the subject for this latest miniseries is definitely one for the writer’s longtime fans. It’s “Chasing Amy.” Not the movie, but the comic that “Bluntman & Chronic” co-creator Holden McNeil made about his experience trying to romance Alyssa at the end of the movie. So it’s the real version of a semi-autobiographical comic from an actual movie. I can only assume that Smith and artist John Sprengelmeyer have been waiting for the right time to do this, because what’s the point of doing it now after all these years? I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the collected edition of this, but it’s more reason for me to pick up what I hope will be a (paperback) omnibus edition of this series.
Resident Alien: The Book of Changes #1 (of 4): Harry and Asta welcomed their daughter Clover into the world in the previous volume, and thankfully she looks more like her mother than her father. They’ve still got a lot to learn about parenting, however, but they’ve had help from everyone in Patience. They’re about to get even more as Harry’s message to his home planet was not only received, but responded to. Now he’s about to welcome his fellow people, and Agent Jones, to his home and hope the FBI doesn’t get too suspicious about all this activity. The two arcs so far have continued to show this title’s low-key charms while telling a longer story than ever before. I’m expecting things to wrap up with this volume, but I sure hope the series itself continues on…
…Is what I wrote before reading last week that this IS the final “Resident Alien” miniseries according to writer Peter Hogan. There will be a final one-shot next year “One For the Road” to wrap things up, but it looks like we’ve reached the end of following Harry’s time in Patience.
Archie vs. Minor Threats #1: You don’t do a crossover with “Archie” unless you’ve got a solid plan for it. Just ask The Punisher or any Yautja (you know, from the “Predator” movies). Now you can add the “Minor Threats” crew to that list and, uh… okay? I liked the first volume and miniseries, the second volume less so, and am waiting for the second miniseries to come back in stock before I order it. So I can’t say that seeing series creators Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum give notes to Timmy Heague merits an automatic thumbs up in my book. It does have Scott Koblish providing the art, and that should be a treat as anyone who’s familiar with his era-specific issues of “Deadpool” can tell you.
Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Professor Harvey is Gone #1: It’s a one-shot where the title character goes after a missing antiquities professor. Mike Mignola writes and Italian artist Giuseppe Manunta illustrates. What more do you need to know? Aside from how many other bits of “Hellboy” miscellany have been published so far towards the collection of another Mignola-written volume.
Hellboy in Love: The Art of Fire #1 (of 2): This doesn’t count, though. “Hellboy in Love” is apparently its own sub-brand after the first volume was collected around a year-and-a-half back. I haven’t picked that up yet because I’m determined to be more selective about what Mignola-verse titles I buy in hardcover these days. “Hellboy in Love” is being co-written with “Baltimore’s” Christopher Golden, so it’s possible I’ll pick this up eventually either at a discount or in some paperback collection.
Behemoth: I made a mental note to remember this miniseries when it was collected, and it worked! Sarah is a chef who dreamed of owning her own food truck and eventually competing in the Food Truck Wars competition. Those dreams become inconsequential when a kaiju shows up in her city and eats the bus she’s on. Now she and her fellow passengers have to find a way out of this place before they’re digested, or worse. I’m not familiar with co-writers Ryan Engle or Grant Sputore, or artist Jay Martin, but it may be worth finding out about them through this miniseries with a clever concept.
Gantz: G Omnibus: Now you can witness this three-volume series rise from complete creative bankruptcy to kind of decent in one go! Yay?
Keep Your Hands off Eizouken vol. 8, Mob Psycho 100 vol. 16, & Serpent in the Garden: Ed Grey and the Last Battle for England: All are being resolicited here and that’s a good thing. Better late than never, you know. Particularly in the case of “Eizouken” and “Mob” as I’m glad to see the publisher sticking with the former series and that they’re actually going to publish the last volume of the latter. As for “Ed Grey,” well, Ben Stenbeck’s last Mignolaverse story (for what sounds like a good long while) is the kind of reason I need to pick up one of these stories in hardcover without waiting for a deep discount.